Civic Vitality

1.1.1  

Racial and Ethnic Diversity, Boston

• Total White Population
• Total African American Population
• Total Latino Population
• Total Asian Population

Diversity augments cultural vitality, increases problem-solving capacity through new skills and perspectives, and strengthens global economic connections.  But highly diverse communities often require community-building efforts to achieve a whole greater than the sum of the parts.

As of 2010, 53% of Bostonians were people of color compared to just 32% of the population in 1980.  Citywide, 22% of Bostonians were African American, 17% Latino, and 9% Asian Pacific Islander.  The neighborhoods of Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan are home to the highest concentration of African Americans in both Boston and Massachusetts while the city’s Latino population mostly resides in East Boston and parts of Jamaica Plain.  Boston’s Asian population is largely concentrated into the small neighborhood of Chinatown as well as the Fields Corner neighborhood of Dorchester.

1.1.2

Foreign-Born Populations

• Foreign-Born Population, Boston
• Foreign-Born Population, Massachusetts
• Households by Ancestry

As of 2010, more than 27% of Bostonians were foreign-born, up from 26% in 2000 and 20% in 1990.  The greatest number of immigrants in Boston live in the neighborhoods of Chinatown, East Boston, and parts of Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan where foreign-born residents range from about 30% to 60%.

Statewide, 14.5% of residents were foreign-born with the highest concentrations in Chelsea (42%), Malden (39%), Lawrence (36%), Everett (35%) and Randolph (30%).

In 2010 Irish remained the largest single ancestry reported by Bostonians with more than 100,000 identifying as Irish followed by about 50,000 identifying as Italian and more than 40,000 identifying as West Indian, of which more than 24,000 were Haitian.  An additional 36,000 identify as English, 28,000 as German and about 25,000 as Sub-Saharan African of which more than 10,000 are Cape Verdean.

Opportunities for Civic Discourse, Metro Boston

1.2.1

Trust in Neighbors, Boston

One of the most important measures of social capital is whether neighbors feel that they can rely on and trust one another.  Approximately every two years, the Boston Neighborhood Survey is conducted to explore the quality and safety of neighborhood life and social capital among neighbors.

Rates of neighborly trust have increased city-wide but vary across all Boston neighborhoods and over time.  According to the most recent Boston Neighborhood Survey conducted in 2008, nearly 81% of Bostonians surveyed felt that they could rely on a neighbor for help, up from 76% in 2006 and 79% in 2003.  More than 90% of residents in the North End, South Boston and Charlestown felt trust in their neighbors—the highest rate among the City’s neighborhoods.  Though Roxbury (74%), North Dorchester (73%) and Mattapan (70%) continue to have the lowest rates of neighborly trust, rates have increase since 2006 when roughly 65% of residents reported feeling their neighbors were willing to help.

1.2.2

Volunteer Activity, Boston and MA

Bostonians logged more than 63,000 volunteer hours in 2010, down slightly from the peak in 2009 when volunteers logged more than 64,000 hours.  However, since the beginning of the last decade total hours logged have more than tripled from 18,000 in 2000.

During that time, volunteers also stepped up to leverage resources for Boston Cares partner agencies struggling to keep up with increased client needs, generating 30 tons of food for Greater Boston Food Bank and 3,900 pairs of children’s shoes for Room To Grow and Cradles to Crayons.

A sampler of Boston Cares volunteer accomplishments from 2011 includes: providing for the basic daily needs of 90,450 individuals, supporting 1,040 youth through academic tutoring and career coaching, and providing comfort and social stimulation for 400 independent seniors, children in transitional housing and special needs athletes, saving community arts and parks organizations $155,000 through projects that provided affordable access to cultural performances and recreational green spaces for thousands of neighborhood residents and visitors to the region, as well as improving learning, library, and recreational spaces used by almost 20,000 Boston Public School students

1.3.1

Corporate Leadership Diversity, MA

• Women as a Percent of Corporate Boardmembers

Diversity in businesses' leadership ensures that the best strategies for growth in an increasingly competitive global economy can be developed and executed.  Businesses also make many important contributions to community life.  As with all other sectors, diversity of leadership in the for-profit arena increases civic vitality and equality.  Prominent examples of representative leadership among Boston’s top businesses help to break the glass ceiling and open opportunities for future leaders.

According to the Boston Club, among the 100 largest companies in Massachusetts in 2011: women comprised 11.1% of board members, down from 11.3% in 2010; 41% had no women board members; and, 29% had no women board members or executives.

The Commonwealth Compact is an initiative of Boston's civic and business community that aims to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of leadership and the workforce at all levels.  As of the most recent Commonwealth Compact Benchmarks Report, in 2008 87% of the 111 organizations submitting data reported that employees of color comprised at least 10% of the workforce, including 22% of high-level management positions and 37% of lower-level clerical and technical positions.  Among companies located in Boston, people of color comprised 37% of the total workforce compared to 21% of the workforce in companies outside of Boston.  Healthcare organizations had the highest level of diversity (44% people of color) followed by nonprofits (37%), for profit corporations (24%) and education (22%). 

1.3.2

Diversity of Elected Leadership in Boston and Massachusetts

• Massachusetts State House Districts
• Massachusetts State Senate Districts
• Gender and Racial Diversity of Elected Officials 
  

Boston: In 2009, the first woman of color, Ayanna Pressley, was elected at-large to the Boston City Council; a position that has been held by just two African Americans, one Latino and one Asian American in the 100 year history of the City Council.  With two vacant at-large positions, the 2009 election drew the largest and most diverse candidate pool in recent years with 15 total candidates, up from 9 in 2007, of whom six were African American, two Latino and one Vietnamese-American candidate.  Among Boston's appointed government officials, the 2007 Benchmark Report on Diversity in State & Local Government by the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy found that 27.8% were African American, 11.5% Latino and 6.6% Asian.  Boston excelled in demographic representation compared to all other municipalities with a high percentage of people of color, with only Chelsea exceeding Boston.  This report has not been updated since 2012.

Massachusetts: Despite many recent "firsts" in in both statewide and municipal electoral representation, leadership across Massachusetts remains predominantly male and white.  According to the most recent data and reporting from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy and the Massachusetts Municipal Association, women comprised just 20.6% of municipal officials in 2007 - virtually unchanged from 20.9% in 1997.  Likewise, 37% of cities and towns in Massachusetts had no women serving in their government bodies and just 7% had achieved gender parity in their leadership corps. Along lines of race and ethnicity, The Benchmark Report on Diversity in State & Local Government found that top-level state-wide and executive appointments are overwhelmingly white: top state-wide and executive appointees are 89% and 91.5% white, respectively, as of 2007.  There has been no update of this report since 2007.

1.4.1

Registered Voters and Participation Rates, Boston

• Registered Voters
• Ballots Cast
• Turnout Rate

As an indicator of civic health, voter participation rates reflect democracy in action - the degree to which people exercise individual choices to produce community leaders and collectively influence policies and laws.  Not all Bostonians are eligible to vote today, but electoral politics in Boston also provide a pathway to leadership for newcomers and their descendants.

As of 2011, more than 347,000 Bostonians were registered to vote with the largest increases spurred by the 2008 presidential election, 2009 mayoral election and 2010 gubernatorial election.  Though the total number of registered voters fell from the peak of more than 370,000 in 2010, there are nearly 100,000 more registered voters in Boston today than in 2010.

A total of 63,009 ballots were cast in the 2011 City Council election, which typically draw lower turnout than presidential, gubernatorial or mayoral elections.  However, this was a 36% increase over the last City Council election in 2007 when 46,249 ballots were cast.

Neighborhoods with the highest turnout rates for the 2011 election--greater than 30%--were in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, South Boston, West Roxbury and Hyde Park.  The lowest turnout rates--below 14%--were in student-dominated neighborhoods such as Fenway, Allston and Brighton. 

1.4.2

Contested Elections in Massachusetts

As of 2011, more than 347,000 Bostonians were registered to vote with the largest increases spurred by the 2008 presidential election, 2009 mayoral election and 2010 gubernatorial election.  Though the total number of registered voters fell from the peak of more than 370,000 in 2010, there are nearly 100,000 more registered voters in Boston today than in 2010.

A total of 63,009 ballots were cast in the 2011 City Council election, which typically draw lower turnout than presidential, gubernatorial or mayoral elections.  However, this was a 36% increase over the last City Council election in 2007 when 46,249 ballots were cast.

Neighborhoods with the highest turnout rates for the 2011 election--greater than 30%--were in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, South Boston, West Roxbury and Hyde Park.  The lowest turnout rates--below 14%--were in student-dominated neighborhoods such as Fenway, Allston and Brighton.

1.5.1

Reported Hate Crime by Type, Boston

• Hate Crimes by Type
• Hate Crimes by Victim
• Hate Crimes by Perpetrator

The number of hate crimes reported speaks to both the level of safety in a community and level of acceptance of diverse neighbors and community members.  The Boston Police Department’s Community Disorders Unit classifies a “hate crime” as a simple assault, destruction of property, threats, and harassment with racial epithets.  In analyzing hate crime data, it is important to understand that heightened awareness (and therefore more frequent reporting and investigation) of such crimes may account for an apparent rise.

The Boston Police Department's Community Disorders Unit investigated 180 incidents classified as hate crimes in 2009--the most recent year for which data are available--down from 229 in 2005 but up slightly from 177 in 2008.  The majority of incidents, 36, were racial harassment and epithets, up from 15 incidents in 2006 and crimes against Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender (GLBT) individuals at 36 down from 51 in 2007.

The majority of hate crime victims were African American, with 64 incidents up from 33 in 2006, followed by GLBT at 36 and white victims at 31.  The lowest number of crimes was instigated against Asians with just 6 incidents.

The majority of incidents, 89, were perpetrated by a white individual followed by 49 incidents perpetrated by an African American individual and 35 in which the perpetrator's race/ethnicity was unknown.

1.5.2

Degree of Residential Segregation

• Residential Segregation by Race/Ethnicity
  
  
  

Boston and the region remain largely segregated along lines of race and ethnicity, despite growing diversity. People of color and newcomer immigrants are highly concentrated in Greater Boston’s “gateway” cities.

Within Boston, the neighborhoods of Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the North End, South End and West Roxbury remained more than 60% white in 2010.  By contrast, people of color comprise more than 80% of the population in areas of Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan and East Boston.

As of 2010, cities & towns with the highest percentage of African American residents were: Randolph at 377; Brockton at 30%, Boston at 22%, and Springfield at 19.5%.  Since 2000, the greatest increase in African American residents has been in Randolph, +16.5%, Brockton, +13% and Everett, +7.5%.

Quincy had the highest concentration of Asians at 24% followed by Lowell and Malden with 20% and Lexington with 19.8%.  The greatest increase in Asian population was in the suburbs of Boston.

In 2010, Lawrence had the highest concentration of Latinos at 74%, followed by Chelsea, 62%, and Holyoke 48%.  The Latino population is growing the fastest in Revere, +15%, Lawrence +14% and Lynn +13.7%

1.6.1
People Living at the Same Address, Boston Neighborhoods

• Percent Households the Moved in Between 2000-2004, Owners
• Percent Households the Moved in After 2005, Owners
• Percent Households the Moved in Between 2000-2004, Renters
• Percent Households the Moved in After 2005, Renters

Rapid movement in and out of a neighborhood affects the ability of people to get to know and trust their neighbors, and may reflect a process of either deterioration or gentrification - with lower-income people being displaced because of rising rents and home values, as wealthier people move in.  On the other hand, too little turnover can result in stagnation and the threat of disinvestment.  Finding the right balance is a challenge - particularly in neighborhoods with a high percentage of renters who have little direct control over prices.

Boston continues to have a highly mobile population.  As of 2010, 73% of all householders had moved into their current residence since 2000, with 41% of householders having moved into their current homes since 2008.  Among households who moved since 2008, 88% were renters, a more highly mobile population.

Neighborhoods with the largest percentage of renters who moved in after 2000 are Fenway/Kenmore (81%), Allston/Brighton (68%) and East Boston (59%).  Neighborhoods with the largest proportion of owner households that moved in after 2000 are Charlestown (28%), West Roxbury (28%), Hyde Park (27%) and South Boston (24%).

1.6.2

Small Business Loans by Race and Gender

Making up over 40,000 establishments and generating around $15 billion in revenue, Boston's small businesses are the economic heart of many of Boston's communities. Many of these businesses are family owned, and frequently employ only 1-5 individuals - often family members. The data with regards to loans in this market is difficult to follow however, as many small business owners prefer to borrow money from their extended families and friends, making it difficult to track through official datasets.

Despite this, we can see that after the 2008 recession brought low both loan volumes (from 47,898 loans in 2007 to 15,663 loans in 2009) and loan amounts ($1 million in 2007 to $640,000 in 2009) in minority communities across Massachusetts, they have since recovered to pre-recession dollar amounts, if not in pre-recession loan amounts ($1.2 million and 31,186 respectively, in 2014).

1.7.1

Linguistic Isolation & Multilingual Access

• Linguistically Isolated Households
• Linguistically Isolated Spanish Speaking Households
• Linguistically Isolated Asian Language Speaking Households
• Households by Language Spoken at Home

Linguistic access not only increases connectedness within a community, but serves as a key in providing basic and fundamental human services such as health care.  While state law requires all acute psychiatric services and medical emergency rooms to provide interpreter services, the number of immediately available interpreters of diverse languages indicates the level of cultural and linguistic inclusion within a community.

As of 2010, 35.5% of Bostonians spoke a language other than English in the home; 15% of the population over age 5 speaks Spanish or Spanish Creole, 12% speak other Indo-European languages, 7% speak and Asian/Pacific Island Language and 2% some other language.

Among those who speak a language other than English in the household, more than 33% are linguistically isolated—equal to more than 11% of all households in Boston.

The Mayor’s Office of New Bostonians continues to offer an interpreter pool at City Hall drawn from the staff of city departments to assist with licenses, permits, tax information, and consumer concerns. Translation in 24 languages is available, including Spanish, Chinese, French, Haitian, Cape Verdean, and Vietnamese

1.7.2

Universal Accessibility

Universal Design of the city and its buildings is essential to ensuring quality of life for the roughly 12% of Bostonians (about 70,000) with audio, visual, cognitive, ambulatory or self-care difficulties with consideration of needs across life stages.  In the same time, some 5% of children under 18, 9% of the working-age population aged 18 to 64 and 43% of those 65 years and older had some disability.

A number of resources are available in Boston for those of all abilities, including:

Institute for Human Centered Design, formerly Adaptive Environments, is a Boston-based design and advocacy organization promoting universal design locally and globally.

City of Boston Commission for Persons with Disabilities oversees all ADA compliance in the Boston and provides access to resources in housing, travel, employment, education and community outreach;

Mass Office of Travel and Tourism lists all accessible travel and points of interest that are accessible to people with disabilities

Massachusetts Office on Disability supports key state initiatives such as ADA compliance, Community Access Monitor Training, the Model Employer Initiative and more.

1.8.1

Library Books in Circulation, Boston Public Library

Neighborhood libraries foster literacy and learning, provide an open civic space and promote opportunities for formal and informal public education. The number of books in circulation at a library is a direct reflection of a community’s access to and use of new, pertinent and available information. Each neighborhood of Boston has its own staffed and networked library enjoyed by individuals and families alike. The city’s library system offers Internet access and takes full advantage of new technological advances in library science to increase access to information and literary resources.

Total circulation for the Boston Public Library continued to grow through FY2010 to more than 3.4 million, a 3.5% increase over FY2009. Nearly 1.3 million of books circulated were from the central library and neighborhood branches with the highest circulation in FY10 were Jamaica Plain (164,310), Honan-Allston (164,077) and West End (156,548).  However, the branches with the largest year-over-year increase were Grove Hall (+116%), Mattapan (+74.3%) and Parker Hill in Roxbury (+22.7%).

1.8.2

Community Newspapers by Linguistic Group

Boston maintains a strong community-based newspaper system with more than 70 special interest services. Of those, 24 are ethnic papers making the news available in just as many languages; 28 are neighborhood papers that keep residents up-to-date on the issues pertinent to the community.  Boston also has many free entertainment news magazines and special interest bulletins to keep people connected.

1.9.1

Nonprofits by Budget and Type

Nonprofits are an essential part of community and civic life, providing opportunities for like-minded neighbors or people to meet and begin to work together. Boston is home to some of the best-known nonprofits in the world, ranging from large to small in size and global to local in reach. The larger organizations offer “deep benches” including well-developed expertise and stability.  Smaller nonprofits often offer an intimate understanding of one neighborhood or ethnic group, or innovative responses to issues that others may not at first recognize as important such as HIV/AIDS awareness, community gardening, neighborhood arts programs and community-based technology training.

There were 3,871 public charities registered in Suffolk County in 2011, about 16% of Massachusetts’ total of 23,828 according to the National Center for Charitable Statistics.  

Budget: The majority of organizations, 2,508, in Suffolk County are Grassroots Organizations with a budget size of $250,000 or less. Safety Net Organizations with budgets between $250,000 and $50 million comprise 1,282 of all organizations, with most (580) in the smaller side with a budget between $250,000 and $1 million.  There are 81 organizations in Suffolk County that are considered "Economic Engines" with budgets over $50 million.

Organization Type: About one-third (1,207) of organizations in Suffolk County are Social Services such as community capacity-building, housing & shelter, and youth sports & recreation organizations.  The additional two-thirds are other societal benefit organizations such in the Arts (444), Education (599), Environment (121), Health Care & Medical (620), Philanthropy (186) and Other nonprofit organizations (694).  Education and Health Care organizations make up the five largest organizations by employment in Suffolk County : Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston University and Children’s Hospital.

1.10.1

Strength of the Philanthropic Sector

• Total Number of Philanthropic Organizations
• Total Foundation Assets
• Total Foundation Giving

The strength of the nonprofit sector is bound directly to the strength of the philanthropic sector, with many of the Commonwealth's more than 30,000 nonprofit organizations reliant on Foundation and individual giving to sustain their work.

As of 2011 there were 23,828 organizations in the philanthropic sector--including foundations--registered in Massachusetts, up from 21,062 in 2003, according to the report Passion & Purpose Revisited.  The philanthropic sector had more than $52 million in revenue and held more than $62 million in total assets in 2011.

According to the most recent data available from Foundation Center, the number of charitable foundations in Massachusetts increased from 1,895 in 1997 to 2,413 in 2009 and total giving increase from $373 million to $1.2 billion over the same time, though this does not capture the trends since the recession.